D&D 5E Do you ACTUALLY use 3rd Party Books?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Impressive.

I have been running sequential campaigns in continuity with each other in a mashup setting that includes Ptolus ever since the Banewarrens in 3.0, but there have been long periods where I was a player and not DMing so it is not continuous.

The spine of the campaign is a play-by-post game, so it's slower than one might assume, although I don't think there's been more than two or three weeks where there was zero activity in either the main game or spin-off games run by me or other DMs. The campaign has also included spin-off games played via Discord and in person.

(NPCs from one adventure will often show up in different sub-campaigns, sometimes years later, and all of the events are in a single timeline and they all "count.")

 

[fjw70]

I have never used any 3PP player contention my games. I would use adventures and monsters but I typically just convert older edition stuff.

 

[Greg K]

I have not run 5e, but my future plan was to use plenty of third party material from Drivethrurpg, DMsGuild, r/Unearthed Arcana, GM Binder, and some websites. As for non-core books by WOTC, I only planned to use some new feats and Fighter material (no new sub-classes) from Tasha's. This actually follows a similar pattern for 3e in which I used little official supplemental material and relied heavily on 3pp supplements.

 

[Azzy]

Yes, though not a lot. I have bought 3PP material and have backed some 3PP kickstarters, but I haven't had a chance to use much of it. I still want to run a Beowulf mini-campaign.

 

[SAVeira]

I have been using 3PP content to fill in the holes in official material. For example, my campaign has a good deal of steampunk influence so using material from 3PP about firearm rules and various "tech" gear.

 

[Lojaan]

It's not just using rules and such. It's adventures, fluff, worlds, inspiring art etc...

 

[Weiley31]

Well, let me put it this way:
You know default 5E's Weapon Table? Well, I pretty much added the Weapon Table from Iron Kingdom: Requiem 5E +Adventures in Rokugan+Adventures in Middle-Earth 5E (some, not all, like the Broadswords and Mattocks) to that list in my 5E games.

Animal Adventures and Humblewood have taken care of Animal character PCs for me.

I've jacked all the backgrounds from Adventures in Middle-Earth 5E and made them selectable Background choices for regular 5E games as well.

And now, with the help of Inferno: Dante's Guide to Hell+Grim Hollow's Transformation subsystem, I can pretty much have "playable demon" characters/classes for such characters in a possible evil campaign. Add in MCDM's Illrigger and I'm all set there.

So ya, 3PP is most certainly used on my end.

 

[Blue]

I use monsters, I use additional rules like Strongholds and Followers.

BTW, if this is about the OGL, it's missing the whole category of OGL games. For example, while I love 5e and it's my favorite edition of D&D (started playing Moldvoy Red Box Basic back in the 80s so I've played them all but Chainmail), my favorite D&D-like game is an OGL game called 13th Age. Written by a lead designer of 3ed and the lead designed of 4e, it's a streamlined d20 game they self-described as "a loveletter to D&D". Effectively, it's a Fantasy Heartbreaker done by big designers when they were free of the sacred cows of D&D - what they "wanted to play in their Wednesday night game".

 

[Clint_L]

I use anything I can get my hands on. If you leave it lying within reach, I might work it into the game. I use 3PP. I use other RPGs. I use miniatures and terrain from everywhere under the sun (aquarium stuff works great for undersea encounters!). I use toys. I use board games and card games. I use props. I've never yet used a small animal, but I can see the potential.

 

[DMZ2112]

As a rule, I don't allow 3PP in my games, no. But I own a ton of OGL material that I use as reference and consider it extremely valuable.

 

[Voadam]

The spine of the campaign is a play-by-post game, so it's slower than one might assume, although I don't think there's been more than two or three weeks where there was zero activity in either the main game or spin-off games run by me or other DMs. The campaign has also included spin-off games played via Discord and in person.

(NPCs from one adventure will often show up in different sub-campaigns, sometimes years later, and all of the events are in a single timeline and they all "count.")

I played in a Ptolus pbp here a long time ago too.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I played in a Ptolus pbp here a long time ago too.

That spur counts! I've used some of the stuff I did with the Docks in that game in a home game since.

 

[Voadam]

I enjoyed that game a lot, Garn was a lot of fun to play!

 

[pukunui]

I voted no, as I am not currently using any 3PP content in my 5e games. I have purchased a few 3PP products over the years, but mostly they end up just sitting on my shelf (or in a folder on my computer) unused. While WotC's official 5e products are far from perfect, I continue to prefer them over 3PP products.

 

[Burnside]

The poll omits 3rd party adventures, which is easily the 3rd party thing I use the most.

 

[DND_Reborn]

No 3PP. I don't use it, allow it, or care for it--and never will.

 

[Arilyn]

WoTC stuff is used sparingly as 3pp to my content from other publishers. Level Up, 13th Age are our systems of choice, along with OSE. Monsters and adventures from Kobold. I'm looking into Ghostfire Gaming, as their stuff looks really cool. I love Beowulf from Handiwork Games. We also have other 3pp stuff sprinkled in as well. Most of the WoTC stuff hasn't been that exciting.

 

[gnarlygninja]

Yes. I use plenty of monsters, magic items, encounters, adventures, etc. I don't see a meaningful difference between homebrewed things and third party content. I'll allow player things with reservations, because some of the people I play with want to play...strange things but I have okayed things before.

 

[Longspeak]

I have backed a lot of KS projects and bought a fair amount of stuff on DriveThru/DMs Guild.

Really a lot.
I haven't used every bit, but I've used 3rd party rules, classes, subclasses, other options, monsters, setting stuff (heck, my main D&D is the Tal'Dorei setting), magic items, ancestries, ideas on separating ancestries and cultures, and other wacky stuff. I've used more 3rd party than I've used official in what I add into my game. Wanna play an Artificer? Step off! Wanna play a Witch (Hidden Oddities: A Witch's Primer is my favorite book)? No prob!

I used a lot and read more.

 

[ECMO3]

So I have used two 3rd party adventures in the last year, that had some new monster content and magic items that I used, but I feel like adventures should be another option. So adventures is the most common thing I have used.

I also used a cantrip from a 3rd party.